A Marine and a Gentleman(5)

“Make it two.”

“Since when do you drink beer?” The man had hated it in high school—called it dog piss and refused to touch the stuff. He preferred his buzz to come from fine wines and expensive liquor.

“Things change.” His easy, generous smile suggested his sense of humor remained intact. “You do realize it’s been a while, right?”

“Yeah, smartass. I’m aware. Thanks for the update.”

He studied the man across the table from him. Always the leaner of the two of them in high school, Liam once claimed he would never look like a man, but that meant he could play his baby face for all it was worth. Somewhere between graduation and now, he’d become a man—his baby face had developed a roguish charm right down to the twinkle in his eyes.

Despite the easy smile, sexy dimples and humor—wariness lurked beneath the gleam in his gaze. Doubt? Irritation? Brenden couldn’t put his finger on it. The waitress brought over their beers and offered food, but they both declined. Alone again, the silence stretched.

“Look, Liam….”

“I wanted to say….”

The words collided and rolled over each other. For the first time since arriving, self-consciousness tangled with Brenden’s tongue. “Go ahead.”

“Okay. It’s good to see you—and I mean that—and I hope you’ll pardon the bluntness….” Despite the careless fall of hair across his forehead and the startling blue of his eyes, Liam pinned him with a hard look. “But since when are you gay?”

“Since always.” He’d expected the question. Frankly, he would have been shocked if the other man hadn’t asked.

“Bullshit.” His old friend took a long pull from the beer and shook his head slowly. “I’ve known you too long to buy that. You pretty much nailed every available tail in high school.”

“Because I was supposed to.” Brenden sighed. He’d made his peace with his actions a long time ago. “That’s what people expected—what my Dad expected—and I’m sure on some level what I expected. Be good at sports, like girls, graduate, enlist, and serve my country with distinction. Four out of five isn’t bad.” His attempt at humor fell flat.

“If you want to be flippant—fine. I’ll just finish the beer and head out.” But he put the beer down and pushed it away. Brenden’s hand snapped out to take his before Liam could rise.

“Stay.” The order came out harsher than he meant and he blew out a breath. “Please.” They stared at each other and the tension in Liam’s posture relaxed. He sat back, but Brenden didn’t release his hand. “I’m not being flippant. I’ve always known—just like I always knew I couldn’t act on it.”

Liam turned his hand over beneath Brenden’s and interlaced their fingers, obviously testing him. “Okay, I’ll skip the cliché of asking why you thought you had to hide it from everyone else and ask the really pointed question of why did you hide it from me?”

“Because you were as subtle as a brick shithouse.” Holding hands felt right. It snapped on a light inside of him that’d burned dim for too long. “And far too fucking charming. Not telling you meant I didn’t have to act on any crazy impulses, or worse, have to break it off when I wouldn’t change who I am.”

“That’s almost too good to be true.” He let go of Brenden’s hand, and reached for his beer again. “You know, magazine material. I had a crush on you all the way through high school and actually toned down so I wouldn’t scare my one decent straight friend off.”

Snorting, the Marine gave him a skeptical look. “Wearing a full-on evening dress to prom to make a political statement is not toning it down.”

“I said I toned down my crush. Not toned down my behavior. You were who you were and so was I.”

“True enough.” Brenden laughed. The taffeta nightmare had looked both ridiculous and adorable at the same time. Liam may have been lean, but he stood tall, only an inch shy of Brenden’s six foot three frame. The dress stopped at his calves, shaved for the occasion. “I just thank God you didn’t wear heels.”

“Not my finest hour. Those flats did nothing for my figure.” The wry cattiness made Brenden laugh. Liam drew a circle on the table with condensation from his bottle. “You know, they don’t ban gay couples at the dances anymore.”

“No, I didn’t know. That’s cool.” He mulled the idea over. He couldn’t imagine it. The world didn’t judge as harshly anymore, but it still judged. “That’s actually really cool. Must take some brave kids to do that.”